Jayson Tatum is only 24 and has carved out a very solid NBA career to this point.
Almost anyone would sign up for his resume before turning 25: a First-Team All-NBA selection, a Third-Team selection, three All-star appearances and the Eastern Conference MVP Trophy.
After the Celtics fell in Game 6, 103-90 to give the Warriors their fourth title in eight years, analysts everywhere called into question the performance of Boston’s top superstar.
Recording only 13 points on 6-of-18 shooting, seven assists, and five turnovers, Tatum’s Finals struggles were only compounded on Thursday night.
With his five turnovers, Tatum finished the postseason with over 100 total turnovers. It’s the most turnovers any player has recorded in a single postseason in NBA Playoff history.
“WFT is Tatum! This is the NBA FINALS Bruh.” Kendrick Perkins said in a tweet during Thursday’s contest.
On Undisputed this morning, both Shannon Sharpe and Skip Bayless were also critical of Boston’s star.
“We didn’t see the Jason Tatum from the Milwaukee series. The Jayson Tatum we saw through the first three rounds of the Eastern Conference Playoffs, we never saw him in the Finals.” Shannon Sharpe said. “But all is not lost. He’s 24. Not 34. He can overcome this, but this is on his resume.”
Bayless was less than hopeful for Tatum.
“He just got exposed. He’s a really good player…I saw too much pouty language.” Bayless added. “I saw Jayson Tatum’s team go 6-6 in the playoffs at home. If you’re the man that can’t happen.”
Not everyone was attacking the Celtics best player though. On First Things First this morning, Nick Wright was hesitant to remove the title of “superstar” off of the Duke phenom for his poor performance.
“He played more games than some of these other guys (on the superstar list) so he had more opportunities for a bad series. He had a bad series in his first Finals…that happens.” Wright said during the show.
The NBA Finals are still fresh on everyone’s minds and Tatum’s lack of production will be talked about as much, if not more than Finals MVP, Steph Curry’s own performance.
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